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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4897260" data-attributes="member: 386">There's a conflict with traditional games and storytelling:You can't be challenged if you can control the world as an author.This isn't always true, based on the game; Spirit of the Century limits your authorial powers via resources.  I'm aslo assuming the reason you're playing a traditional game is to overcome challenges; if you want to play D&D to tell stories to each other, then there's no conflict.Most D&D games have at least some storytelling going on in them.  "What are you doing right now?"  "I'm sitting on the porch of the inn, smoking my pipe, listening to the crickets chirp."  The crickets chirping isn't roleplaying but it's not a big deal.  The important thing is that the DM has final say.  He could say, "Actually, on this world, crickets don't chirp so much as whine."  But that's not really important.(Where it gets interesting is if the DM says, "Actually, they are not chirping tonight."  He knows it's because there's a monster in the grass sneaking up to kill the PC.  Now the player can react to that.  Would he have had the same information if he just said, "I'm on the porch"?)A year ago I might have sided more with Hussar, but now I see things differently.  The DM, with his authority over the game world, enables the players to play their roles.  They don't have to step out of character in order to figure out what's over the next hill.  They don't have to make a choice between character advocacy (where you make choices that align with what your character wants - or thinks he wants) and creating adversity.The DM can supply all the adversity he wants and it works because he doesn't care if the PCs succeed or not.  His job is to make sure the players can make the kinds of meaningful choices they want.  Because of this they aren't just passive consumers of the DM's material; they interact with it, change it, shape it, exploit it, all through playing their PC roles, while the DM maintains consistency of the game world, making their choices matter.At least that's what I think now.</blockquote>

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